AMD Ryzen 5 1600X is ambitiously aligned with Intel’s Core i5-7600K. It comes with 6 SMT-enabled cores. With such powerful processor it is able to operate on 12 threads in parallel.

It features 16MB of L3 cache, a 3.6 GHz base clock rate, and a 4 GHz boost frequency. It includes the dual-core 4.1 GHz extended Frequency Range setting. It contributes to an all-core 3.7 GHz boost level for heavily-threaded workloads.

AMD Ryzen 5 1600X’s idle power consumption is much higher than expectation. Overall, the trimmed-down design boosts similar power consumption as the eight-core Ryzen 7s.

AMD Ryzen gives a budget chip set for hardcore gamers. It gives very high price to performance ratio. It challenges Intel’s Kaby lake based chip set. Six nimble cores shows full AMD’s budget-oriented eight-core model.

The Ryzen 5 series is led by the Ryzen 5 1600X, a six-core part priced at $249. AMD claims that the 1600X comprehensively beats the Core i5-7600K in all the software that matters to PC gamers and pro-users and even punches above its weight against the i7-7700K.

AMD made the Ryzen 5 1600X by disabling 2 out of 8 CPU cores physically present on the 14 nm “Summit Ridge” chip, which is, in turn, one core per quad-core complex (CCX), while leaving L3 cache untouched.

So, you have a staggering 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. The chip is clocked at 3.60 GHz, with 4.00 GHz of TurboCore frequency and the XFR (extended frequency range) feature unlocking further automated overclocked speeds depending on the efficacy of your CPU cooling. Its main competitor from the Intel stable is the Core i5-7600K.

Ryzen 5 Market Segment Analysis

Pentium G4560

Core i3-7100

Core i5-7400

Core i5-7500

Ryzen 5 1500X

Core i5-6600K

Core i5-7600K

Ryzen 5 1600X

Ryzen 7 1700

Core i7-6700K

Core i7-7700K

Ryzen 7 1700X

Cores / Threads

2 / 4

2 / 4

4 / 4

4 / 4

4 / 8

4 / 4

4 / 4

6 / 12

8 / 16

4 / 8

4 / 8

8 / 16

Base Clock

3.5 GHz

3.9 GHz

3.0 GHz

3.4 GHz

3.5 GHz

3.5 GHz

3.8 GHz

3.6 GHz

3.0 GHz

4.0 GHz

4.2 GHz

3.4 GHz

Max. Boost

N/A

N/A

3.5 GHz

3.8 GHz

3.9 GHz

3.9 GHz

4.2 GHz

4.1 GHz

3.7 GHz

4.2 GHz

4.5 GHz

3.8 GHz

L3 Cache

3 MB

3 MB

6 MB

6 MB

16 MB

6 MB

6 MB

16 MB

16 MB

8 MB

8 MB

16 MB

TDP

54 W

51 W

65 W

65 W

65 W

91 W

91 W

95 W

65 W

91 W

91 W

95 W

Process

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

14 nm

Socket

LGA 1151

LGA 1151

LGA 1151

LGA 1151

AM4

LGA 1151

LGA 1151

AM4

AM4

LGA 1151

LGA 1151

AM4

Price

$65

$120

$190

$205

$190

$240

$240

$250

$320

$340

$350

$400

Specs

Number of CPU Cores

6

Number of Threads

12

Base Clock Speed

3.6 GHz

Max Turbo Core Speed

4GHz

Total L1 Cache

576KB

Total L2 Cache

3mb

Total L3 Cache

16 mb

CMOS

14nm

Package

AM4

Thermal Solution

Not Included

Default TDP / TDP

95W

MEMORY INTERFACE

Memory Channels

DDR4

2

The “Zen” Architecture

The oldest reports about AMD working on the “Zen” architecture date back to 2012, when AMD re-hired CPU core designer Jim Keller, credited with the original winning K8 and K9 architecture designs, to work on a new core architecture to succeed “Bulldozer.”

AMD continued to invest in the “Bulldozer” IP in the form of incremental core updates, hoping that trends in the software industry towards parallelization could improve, giving it a big break in price/performance.

Those trends, in the form of DirectX 12 and Vulkan 3D APIs being multi-core friendly, came in a tad late (towards late 2016). Four years of work by a team dedicated to its development, led by Jim Keller, resulted in the “Zen” core.

Price and availability

That’s £1 less than the RRP: it’s brand new, so don’t expect to see any discounted prices for a while.

Here’s a summary of the Ryzen 5 range to show you how the 1600X compares with its siblings:

Model

Cores / Threads

Base Clock (GHz)

Boost Clock (GHz)

TDP (Watts)

Included Cooler

Price

Ryzen 5

1600X

6 / 12

3.6

4.0

95

N/A

£249 / $249

Ryzen 5

1600

6 / 12

3.2

3.6

65

Wraith Spire

£219 / $219

Ryzen 5

1500X

4 / 8

3.5

3.7

65

Wraith Spire

£189 / $189

Ryzen 5

1500

4 / 8

3.2

3.4

65

Wraith Spire

£169 / $169

Pros:

Strength in heavily threaded workloads

Superior price-to-performance ratio for budget workstations

Unlocked ratio multiplier

Cons:

High price relative to Core i5-7600K

Lower overclocking headroom

Overheating after long use

Although a little more expensive than the i5-7600K, it’s easy to see that the Ryzen 5 1600X is better value for demanding tasks such as 3D- and video rendering, video editing and compressing and decompressing files.

Overall it’s a high end performance for a true gamer. Ignoring the temperature issues, it will give you an extreme experience of a gaming.